Category: Finishes

Yup, ’tis Christmas Eve and I FINALLY got my very first stitched ornaments completely finished … ie they are now actual ornaments! Yippee!! I’m pretty pleased with them, to say they’re my first ones 🙂 I was a bit hesitant with the cardboard cutting etc, and I have to admit to using glue, which is also a first for me!

One ornament is for me (the Christmas tree one on the left) – and one for my best Aussie mate’s Mum as a bit of a wind-up for his Dad … his Dad isn’t keen on Christmas, but his Mum adores it – every year when he starts moaning, I just say “oh, bah humbug” to him … it’s become a bit of a joke between us. Last year he was going to buy me a jar of humbugs for my Christmas present … well, this year he might want to hit me instead, but I just couldn’t resist this ornament when I first saw it! So, the “No Humbugs Allowed” goes to Carol and Len … may you still allow me back in the house in 2006! LOL.

Yippee, I put the final stitches into another festive piece today – I did about 2/3 of the stitching during Thursday, but didn’t get to finish it until today as I had a visitor to stay. Originally I stitched this to try out a flat-fold finish – but I’m not sure whether the dimensions might be too big for that style of finish … if so, I’ll try a quilted wallhanging instead. The dimensions are 14cm x 20cm – if anyone has had experience with these methods of finishing, I’d really love some advice before I start … This piece has been sitting in my stash for years, so it’s nice to finally drag it out and stitch it up – I think the red thread is a bit ‘odd’ … I used the recommended threads, but my skein is a very stark difference between the bright red and plum/burgundy colour, with no subtle graduations – I wouldn’t mind stitching it again with a different red thread, but in the meantime it will be good to practice my finishing on. The chart is called “Merry Christmas” by Bent Creek, and it’s stitched on Platinum Belfast linen. I love the tree – but I’m also wondering what it would look like all stitched over-one … hmmm …

As for my visitor – I was thrilled to have the company of my best male mate Fraggle (his nickname … and considering he now knows about my blog, I’m sure he’ll be thrilled for me to use his nickname here, as he loves it so much LOL). He came over after work and stayed the night … it was a very relaxing night of a couple of vodkas (for me) and beers (for him) with pizza and a comedy DVD. It was lovely to catch up properly, as we haven’t had chance to do that ever since I moved out of our flat 4 months ago. And don’t worry Mum, I’ll make sure you still have beers in the fridge for your arrival next week haha. Fraggle said he was going to tell our old flatmate he’s decided to move in with me instead … it really was a nice relaxing night. We have the sort of friendship where you feel comfortable to ‘bare all’ and talk about anything under the sun, and just feel comfortable to hang out … he never fails to make me laugh – that’s the main thing I’ve missed since moving out … his wacky sense of humour. He’s also the only person I know who can talk my head off in the mornings without me wanting to shoot him haha (nope, NOT a morning person). Anyway, Fraggle, thanks for a great night … you’re welcome back any time 🙂

Well, my rotation has gone out the window the last few days … it’s time for the Dratteds to return, but I’m putting it off until next weekend, when I’m using them for a Stitch-a-Thon – plus I’ve been putting off a job of frogging for weeks and weeks … I was so disheartened in a gift I was stitching for someone that I stuffed up, that it got put aside until I could face it again. Well, now I’ve decided there are no more excuses, I just have to bite the bullet and get the damned thing done! Unfortunately it was stitched when I was feeling very sick with my month of headaches etc … I finally managed to finish the stitching, after a real struggle, but it looked pretty nice … then ironed it before it was finished … with a hot setting … right over the top of the blending filament … doh! Serious blonde moment!! So, all that lovely twinkly stuff that looked so gorgeous just happened to disappear almost entirely – there is still a tiny bit of sparkle left, but I was so disheartened I found I couldn’t bring myself to still finish it off and send it … and it’s been sitting on the kitchen table mocking me ever since!! So, my challenge for the next two days is to unpick 2/3 of the stitching (ie all the blending filament and backstitching) and get it into a state fit for posting next week … I’m not religious, but I’ll be praying this time I do it right!! OK, here goes … wish me luck! 🙂

Well, today has been the most perfect stitching day … almost like a winter’s day it’s been bucketing down so hard you can hardly see out the windows – and the thunder has been rolling for a while … what better way than to stay indoors curled up with your stitching 🙂

I started my ‘finishing’ rotation slot this evening with finally putting together two things that have been sitting unfinished for many many years – first of all my “Ancient Thistle Needlecase” by Textile Heritage Collection – and secondly my “Pins and Needles” scissor keeper by Forget-Me-nots In Stitches … both stitched way back in 1999 (gulp!!). But they’ve both been given a new lease of life and can now become functional items in my needlework basket – yippee!!! I actually have a silk cord made up from the original threads, which I made a the same time as stitching the scissor fob, but I couldn’t lay my hands on it – so I opted to use a variegated perle cotton by Anchor and a satin ribbon instead … doesn’t look too bad 🙂

Rightio, what else can I do tomorrow? I have a list of items to choose from … the question is, which one will win out?

Seeing as there has been a bit of interest generated, I’ve scanned one of my album pages to give you an example of what I do – excuse the photo on it, one of my ink cartridges needs changing, so it’s a bit pale. Anyway, hopefully it’ll come through OK … The box at the top is the same size as a ‘normal’ printed photo, so if I wanted to I could just paste in an actual photo, instead of scanning it – and I have one template page with a vertical photo format as well, then just type in the details at the relevant points. If anyone wants a copy of the actual Word document, I’m more than happy to send it to you – it’s very very simplistic, though, so you might want to play with it a bit … just drop me an email to shakatak at iinet dot net dot au and your wish will be granted 🙂

Rightio, back to my stitching, as I’m not far off my happy dance for Summer Into Autumn – I’ve finished all the actual stitching now, and just need to add the beads, so I’ll have a piccie to post before the end of the day. Then I just have to wait for the MH treasure to arrive, before working out how the heck to finish it into a bellpull … another new finishing technique for the new year 🙂

(edited to add the following Happy Dance)
Well, as promised, here’s the finished version of Summer into Autumn by The Drawn Thread – I have to admit the ‘softer’ look of the single thread suits it well. It’s not my usual style of stitching, but I really enjoyed stitching it for the variety of stitches involved, plus such a short and quick project to stitch – it took me a sum total of 9 stitching hours!

Well, I decided not to bother finishing my 3rd tiny UFO with the re-beading – and thought I’d save it until my next UFO section on my rotation as a treat to get something finished early again. Instead I put my old “Nature’s Rest” in the Q-snaps, and I’m in the process of stitching my 10 hours into it before I move back to the Dolphins again. I figure I really do need to get this old UFO done before I do much else, as a lot of the threads that I used have since had colour changes – and without knowing, all those years ago, I was merrily using the same skeins for other projects, meaning I only have a little bit left of some of them … I think I’m safer getting this old thing done and finished, so I can then move on to something else. So that project is now officially taking residence in the UFO spot until it’s finished … at least I still have my ‘smalls’ and ‘free choice’ rotation spots to give me a break from all these big and boring projects 🙂

Anyway, here’s my other small happy dance reason – I finally put the last stitches into my folded ribbon rose class from some time in 2001 … the roses have gotten squished quite a bit during their time in storage/relocating to Aussie, but they’re passable – not a craft project I’m in a real hurry to repeat, but it’s nice to get it out of the UFO folder once and for all! I’m not entirely sure what to do with it now it’s finished, though – maybe just turn it into a pincushion … dunno, really … any suggestions would be greatly welcomed!Von, thanks for your lovely comments on my blog – do you have a blog yourself? I tried looking, and couldn’t find one … I’d love to return the favour 🙂

Thanks everyone as always for your welcomed comments – they really are appreciated and help to keep my spirits up when I’m a bit flat 🙂 You guys rock!

Well, I’m off work at GP’s orders again today, trying to get rid of these cluster migraines once and for all (apparently that’s what they are) – so now I’m doped up with anti-inflammatories etc, and I’ve been ordered to do no housework etc, just rest and relaxation … so on Dr’s orders, I’ve been sat stitching, watching the rest of the Stephen King’s Kingdom Hospital series on DVD … soon to be followed by Girl with a Pearl Earring (talk about going from one end of the spectrum to the other – but that’s me to a tee!!). Anyway, I managed to force myself to complete a UFO from last year – a GCC (Group Correspondence Course) through the Embroiderers Guild of America, called “Lace & Ribbons” by Dakota Rogers. It only took 1 1/2 hours to finish it off, as I just had to do the filling stitches on the bottom band – and finally I have another set of scroll rods to use for another project ... yippee!!! I’m going to add fabric to the sides, and turn this into a folder cover for my stitching album, I think. You got to choose your own design for the ‘centre’ piece – I chose an autumn leaf, and in fact picked one up from the ground that I liked the look of on the way home from work one day while I was stitching it – it thought it would remind me of my first autumn in Melbourne, as the leaves were all falling from the trees at that time, which always makes me feel soppy – I just love the autumn colours on the trees.Now, before I forget, Cathy I do use polyfill for my pincushion stuffing – only because I use them for decoration only. When I was in NZ I used clean wool fleece, but I haven’t found a stockist for it here yet … but then again, I haven’t tried that hard either. The polyfill is not good if you want to actually use it, as I believe the pins may eventually rust in there. Another option is to cut up wool skeins (taught that by Martha Beth Lewis in a class once), eg tapestry wool.

Rightio, off to finish off another two UFO’s – the next two only have about 1/2 hour’s stitching to go on each one … one just has a few fly stitches to pop in, and the other one was finished, but it got caught on something, and I lost one of the heart beads, so I need to frog it back a bit, and restitch the beads back on again. So, fingers crossed, I’ll have another couple of happy dances by the end of the day 🙂

Well, I managed to eat something today, which is a bonus after 3 days of not eating much at all – had a lazy day of stitching and listening to most of a talking book (The Poet by Michael Connelly – a serial killer novel … nope, no girlie books for me today!). Managed to almost finish another two ornaments – just have to buy a charm/treasure for each, then I’ll have to work out how to actually finish them off. I’ll post a piccie of the finished ones later – just don’t hold your breath haha. They’re both from the 1998 JCS Ornament issue – the first one is called “Christmas Memory Tree” by Ursula Michaels Designs, and the second one is “Woodland Noel” by Heart in Hand Needleart.